Sacha: 'When the Stormers drift off plan, it bites us'
The Stormers have qualified for the Champions Cup Round of 16, but before their trip to Toulon in early April, they have some challenging United Rugby Championship fixtures to deal with.
The table-topping Stormers, still unbeaten in the URC, go into two challenging domestic derbies against a Springbok-laden Sharks team – in Cape Town this coming Saturday and Durban a week later.
Then follows a trip to Gauteng at the end of February to face the Lions at Ellis Park and the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld (a catch-up fixture from the postponed Christmas match).
That is followed by a trip to Newport to face the Dragons, before they host Edinburgh in Cape Town at the end of March.
These six matches, with a three-week February break sandwiched in between, give them time to smooth out some rough edges ahead of their Euro play-off trip to France to face Toulon.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who captained the Stormers for the first time in a win over Leicester Tigers at the weekend, admitted his team will do some serious introspection.
It was an eventful afternoon for Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who picked up a yellow card for leading with his forearm in a carry, but also slotted four shots at goal to help his team over the line.
The 23-year-old described the win in Cape Town, which started in sunshine and finished with a heavy downpour, as an interesting game in which he had to tap into the experience of the other leaders around him.
He described his first game as captain of the senior team as a ‘great privilege’ and a ‘lesson’ well learnt.
However, having overplayed in the home win this past weekend, the Springbok No. 10 admitted they had gone off script at times.
* (WATCH as rookie captain Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu explains the consequences of his team going ‘off script’…..)
“We have our [attacking] DNA and it has brought us so much success and trophies, so we do lean on it,” said Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
“The next development of our game is going back to what we know, and that is kicking the ball.
“The coaches can only do so much, but when we follow the game plan, we put points on teams and fire shots.
“We are very successful with that.
“Sometimes we drift off plan, and as [attack coach] Dawie [Snyman] says: ‘It comes from a good place’.
“We are trying to get momentum and play our brand of rugby.
“It is the ripple effect of an offload [gone wrong], then the cleaners [not in place] and we are out of a kick position.
“That bites us, and it bites our legs also.
“We are in both competitions [URC and Champions Cup], and there is still a lot of time.
“Learning on days like this, when we are winning, is phenomenal for us.
“It is now up to the playing group, not the coaches, because we get clear instructions.”
The young flyhalf admitted that he has so much confidence in his teammates that he never feels as if they are going to lose.
“We have such a good squad and a privilege to have such great leaders around me.
“The big boys, Gaza [Damian Willemse], Moon [Salmaan Moerat] and Ruhan [Nel], are back next week.
“My job was to have a good experience and learn for the future, and it was a cool moment.”
@JanDKrugby
@rugby365com
